Letter-printing press



1927' T. c. SPELLING LETTER PRINTING PRESS Filed Oct. 8, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 4, 1927, 1,613,417

T. c. SPELLING LETTER PRINTING i REss Filed Oct. 8. 1924. s" Sheets-Sheet 2 wag-W706.-

' 1,61 ,417 1927' 'r. C.YSPELL|NG 3 LETTER PRINTING PRESS Filed Oct. 8. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet '3 756" Haj- Zia UNTTE STAES T Patented Jan. t,

THOMAS (J. SPELLING, or new YORK, N. Y.

LETTERQRINTING PRESS.

Application filed October 8, 1924.

This invent-ion relates to certain new and useful improvements in letter printing presses and deals particularly with that type of apparatus which is used for producing so-called form letters.

Usually letters of this character are first printed upon a press or multigraph machine, leaving the addressees space blank. This blank space is afterwards filled in "on a typewriter and usually the type of the typewriter machine is of a different character or of a different impression than that of the body form of the letter. In other instances slugs carrying a type impress of the name, address and Salutation are used. In either case the letter, as a whole, is given unsightly form which is quickly noticeable by the differentiating features as to the filled-in part of the letter over that of the printed form.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to overcome these difficulties by producing a machine wherein a little chase containing type identical with that set up in the letter chase is fed into its proper position at the head of the body of the letter so that the name of the addressee is printed simultaneously with that of the set up form. The type employed in the little chase corresponds with that in the letter form, hereinafter designated as the letter chase. By giving the letter made up in this fashion a simultaneous impression, the whole letter will have a uniform appearance. It is notable that full advantage is here taken for the first time of the fact that type foundries now manufacture and sell what is known as standardized typewriting type.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a machine in which the little chases are successively fed into position at the head of the set up form letter. I

Another object of the invention resides in the novel manner in which the little chases are fed from a receiving hopper into their proper positio at the head of the form letter.

A still further aim of the invention is the provision of interchangeable hoppers which may be readily inserted into their appropriate positions at either side of the machine.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a hopper in which the little chases are maintained in a separated condiof the slot.

Serial No. 742,335. 7

tion at the exit end of the hopper so that no frictional contact can take place between the individual little chases upon their wit-hdrawal from the hopper. V

A still further aim of the invention resides in the novel manner of automatically coupling the hopper into its appropriate positi-on at the receiving end of the machine.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less broader than those stated above, together with the advantages inherent, will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangement of parts and application of principles constituting the invention, and the scope of protection contemplated will appear from the appended claims. 7

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, similar letters of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the machine assemblage.

Fig. 2 is a detail view, in side elevation of the manner in which the letter chase is given its desired reciprocatory movements.

Fig. 3 dealing with the little chase slot within the reciprocating letter chase.

Fig. t is a perspective View of the hopper receiving platform.

5 is a fragmentary view taken in side elevation of the hopper just about to be inis a fragmentary perspective view serted in position on the platform, shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken through the hopper and illustrating the manner in which the little chases are handled within the hopper.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the little chases.

Fig. 8 is a perspective View of the little chase carrier or feeder.

Fig. 9 illustrates the manner in which the little chase carrier is given its desired rcciprocatory motion; and

Fig. 10 deals with the operation of the inking and impression rolls.

It should be noted that the letter chase consists of two parts, one part on either side In the narrower part, designated 52 in 3 will beset the type for printing the part of a letter commonly known as the letterhead and date line. For" that, any suitable type may be used. The

other part of the letter chase designated 53 in Fig. 3 carries the body or text of the letter. In referring hereinafter to the letter chase, the term is to be understood to include both of the parts, 52 and 53, just referred to. These parts of the letter chase will rest on, be secured to and connected the one to the other by a common smooth base, which in turn will rest on the surface of the press, leaving sufficient room between the soseparated parts to accommodate the recepti-on of the little chases.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, 11 indicates a reciprocating letter chase containing type in which the body of the letter is set up. This letter chase is adapted to move in guideways designated 12-12, which are supported by body frames or legs illustrated at 13-18.

Adjacent the upper end of the reciprocating letter chase is a transversely dove-tailed grooved slot designated 1st, this slot is adapted to receive and snugly retain therein the little chases 15. If desired, the little chases 15 may be provided with slight protuberances illustrated at iii-16 on either side thereof which will tend to frictionally maintain the same in proper position in the slot of the letter chase.

The letter chase is provided adjacent one endat the under side thereof with a depending lug or finger 17 to which is pivotally supported a men'iber 18. This member 18 is adapted to travel in the grooves 19 formed on the surface of a rotating cylinder 20. This cylinder 20 receives its desired direction of motion through suitable gear and drive mechanisms coupled to the usual drive shaft of a machine of this character. The

grooves '19 gradually merge into or from The delivery hop or is also adapted to rest upon a platform or shelf designated 22 and more. particularly shown in Fig. l. Through either side of this shelf extends a cup gear 28-83 which is suitably connected to any desired dr'ven shaft of the machine. Adjacent these cup gears I also provide upwardlyprojecting pins or lugs 24-2-11 which will be for a purpose hereinafter described.

The hoppers in the present case are designated by the reference characters 25-25 and they are each provided with an exit slot adjacent the lower end thereof as at 26 to perinit the withdrawal of the little chases. This withdrawal is accomplished by using a reciprocating little chase carrier or feeder 27 which actuates within a longitudinal slot 28 in the bottom wall of each hopper. This little chase carrier or feeder is provided with an upwardly extending lug 29 which is adapted'to engage behind the little chase and force the latter forward during the actuation of the little chase carrier or feeder. The little chase carrier or feeder is given its desired reciprocatory motion through a pivoted link 30 which is connected at its upper end to the little chase carrier while the opposite end of the link carries a roller designated 31 which in turn is actuated by the cam 32 driven from any appropriate power shaft of the machine.

In order to allow the little chase carrier to have its full movement across the width of the letter chase to effectively carry the little chase in position within the letter chase I also provide a transverse slot or groove 33 within the base of the dove-tailed groove in the letter chase.

In order to prevent the mutilation that would occur to the type of each little ch so on the withdrawal of the same from the hopper I provide a novel means for gradually feeding the lowermost little chase from r the stack of superimposed little chases so that the bottom little chase is withdrawn from the hopper without having any frictional contact with the little chase thereabove. This is accomplished in the present case by providing spirally ribbed rollers designated 34 which are suitably supported in their longitudinal position on the side walls of each hopper. "hese rollers are given their desired direction of rotation by gears The gear .35 being arranged on the lower end of each roller 34. The 36 derives its rotative motion from a worm gear illustrated at 37 which in turn is actuated fromthe master gear 38. When the hopper is inserted into the delivering position in the machine this master gear 38 is adapted to mesh with the cup gear 23 on the platform on table 22. In order to lock the rollers 3 t to prevent accidental movement thereof while the hopper is detached from the machine, I en'zploy a spring pressed locking ar illustrated at 39, one end of the bar frictionally engaging the upper surface of the master gear 38. This bar is adapted to be removed from frictional engagement with the master gear when the hopper is inserted in position by the engagement of the other end of said bar with the lug or projection onthe table The table 22 is also provided with a centrally depressed portion 40 within which the little chase carrier or feeder is supported. This depressed portion has a longitudinal slot ll therein to permit the passage of the upper end of the pivoted arm 30.

Suitably supported adjacent the opposite end of the machine is a pivoted arm 42 which carries at one end the inking roll 43 and at its opposite .end an impression roll 44. This arm 42 is given its desired pivotal movements by connecting one end of the arm to a re'ciprocatory bar or member This bar or member 45 is positively actuated in one direction by a cam 46 mounted upon a driven shaft in the machine and is held in engagement with the face of the cam by an expanding spring 47. Supported from the arm 42 011 a bracket designated 48 is an ink box 49 having a suitable duct or spout 50 leading to the surface of the inking roll 43.

In order to permit the handling of the hoppers 25 I also provide handles or clips designated 51-51 and arranged on either side of the same.

Assuming that a form letter has been set up in the letter chase and a hopper filled with little chases is inserted in position at the delivery end of the machine the operation will be as follows:

The little chase carrier will be reciprocated to the right of that shown in Fig. 9 and carry with it the little chase which has been dropped thereon from the spiral fed rolls This little chase will be carried into its appropriate position and held within the dove-tailed slot 14 at the head of the letter chase. The letter chase will then be given a reciprocatory motion towards the opposite end of the machine and the inking roll will be moved into engagement with the typewriting type set up in the letter chase. At the end of this reciprocatory motion the letter chase will slightly dwell to permit the insertion of a blank sheet over the letter chase and on its forward movement the impression roll 44will be drawn into engagement with the superimposed sheet. This will result in the uniform impression of the name of the addressee as well as the full body of the set up body of the letter. When the. letter chase arrives at the head of the machine it will slightly dwell in this latter position suliiciently to allow the little chase carrier to again feed forward a little chase that has been dropped thereon and the insertion of this latter little chase will result in the ejection of the preceding little chase. The ejected little chase will thus be fed into the hopper positioned at the opposite side of the machine. During the actuation of the machine it will be obvious that the rotative action of the spiral feed rolls 24 tend to gradually feed the lowermost little chase from beneath the stack of superimposed little chases which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 6. i

What I desire to secure by U. S. Letters Patent is:

1. In a letter printing press, the combination of a reciprocatory letter chase having a little chase receiving slot tllfirein, a supply hopper havingla stack of little chases there? in, a rotary anemberarranged on each side of the hopper adjacent the lower end there: of, each carrying aspiral cam ofincreasing pitch, said'cam extending into engagement with the stack of little chases within the hopper and adapted in its movements to vertically separate the lowermost little chase from the superimposed stack, and means for feeding the separated little chase to the little chase slot in the letter chase.

2. In a letter printing press, the combination of a reciprocatory letter chase having a little chase receiving slot therein, a hopper receiving platform adjacent one end of the press, a driving gear associated with its hopper receiving platform a supply hopper having a stack of little chases therein means associated with the supply hopper for vertically separating the lowermost little chase from the stack of superimposed little chases an automatic couple adapted to actuate said means from the driving gear on the hopper receiving platform when the supply hopper is inserted in position thereon, and means for feeding the separated little chase to the little chase slot in the letter chase.

3. In a letter printing press, the combination of a reciprocatory letter chase having a little chase receiving slot therein, a hopper receiving platform adjacent one end of the press and having a drive gear associated therewith, a supply hopper having a stack of little chases therein, said hopper provided with a feed means for vertically separating the lowermost little chase from the stack of superimposed little chases, means for looking said feed means while the hopper is re moved from the hopper receiving platform a coacting member on the hopper receiving platform to unlock the locking means when the hopper is inserted in position thereon, and means for feeding the separated little chase to the littlechase slot in the letter chase.

4. In a letter printing press, the combination of a reciprocatory letter chase having a little chase receiving slot therein, a hopper receiving platform adjacent one end of the press, a driving gear associated with the hopper receiving platform, a detachable supply hopper having a series of superimposed little chases therein, said hopper having means for individually separating the lowermost little chase from the stack of superimposed little chases, said means adapted to be driven from the driving gear on the receiving platform when the detachable hopper is properly positioned thereon, and means for feeding the separated little chase to the little chase slot in the letter chase.

5. In a letter printing press,the combination of a reciprocatory letter chase having a little chase receiving slot therein, a hopper Ill!) receiving platform adjacent one end of the press, a driving gear associated With the hopper receiving platform, a detachable supply hopper having a series of superimposed 5 little chases therein, said hopper having an individual feed means associated therewith, said individual feed means adapted to be aut'omatically coupled to the driving gear on the hopper receiving platform When said hopper is properly positioned thereon and means for individually advancing the separated little chase to the little chase slot in the letter chase.

THOMAS C. SPELLING. 

